Atari 2600 Pac-Man commercial with Mr. Hooper

[@choice2099]

What memories! RIP Mr. Hooper.

[@Spider-Man-257]

Wait... he died, well can't say I didn't expect that.

[@hozonkai9967]

@@Spider-Man-257 He died the same year of this commercial.

[@johnp4008]

I wish Mr. Hooper had been my grandfather, to play Atari with.

[@creatureofthedepths3]

Wow, I miss Mr. Hooper. after, seeing the adults telll Big Bird about him not coming back it made miss him even more.

[@carsonky]

Bit of trivia - Tod Frye was the developer of the Atari 2600 port, and showed Atari a prototype he worked on in his spare time. He was only after the ok to continue, but Atari didn't want to delay and used the prototype in production. Pretty obvious with Pacman not pointing up or down when travelling north or south. Thanks for posting

[@sandal_thong8631]

That's a myth. They say Frye worked on it for 6 months and was required to fit it on a 4K ROM cart to save money over the 8K ROM carts. Asteroids (1981) was the first to use an 8K ROM (with bank switching). The head of Atari didn't care when told enthusiasts for the arcade wouldn't play it. However he sold his stock a day before the profit adjustment was released, and got away with it.

[@StudioVigiem]

Holy sh!t! I used to make audio recordings of the old toy and video game commercials (pre-VCR days). This was one of them! Thanks!

[@Josh-le6lu]

0:13 That sound made me cry.

[@PuckmanBG]

Is a train

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

Loved Mr. Hooper

[@retrogamelord3763]

"Those are supposed to be the ghosts" Wow, way to say it kid. Even the grandpa knew that this game looked terrible.

[@LawmanIL]

You beat me to it (by about a year). But glad you picked up on that as well!

[@retrogamelord3763]

DayTripperID Haha thanks

[@williamgottlieb8723]

The ghosts look so bad because of the poor programming of the game. There is actually only one ghost on the screen at any time, so the flickering is the one ghost going back and forth between the four positions. Instead of giving the job of creating the game to someone with actual talent, Atari pick someone they probably found laying in the gutter in front of their building.

[@segaunited3855]

@@williamgottlieb8723 Correct. It was programmed in 6 weeks and then rushed out for the Holiday of 1981 in limited quantities. When Atari saw how much Money Pac Man Arcade had made Namco in the 1981 FY Report, they started Mass Producing,Mass Marketing the now several month old game in the Early Spring of '82 to make quick profit and in the hopes it would sell more 2600s, problem being, Atari produced more Pac Man 2600 Cartridges than 2600 SKUs, and also forgot that the game was in Alpha Prototype Stage. It wasn't even FINISHED or ready for retail.

[@morbidsearch]

That's not even the real footage. The actual game only had 2 ghosts.

[@eternalhalloween1]

There's something very nice about seeing a clip (you had never seen before) of someone after he dies. There's always that one moment that you somehow missed. I had a similar feeling after I watched "Rocky" V after Burgess Meredith died. (What made it even more mystical was that he was playing his character in a flashback.)

[@vigo894]

Mr. Hooper was a character on Sesame Street. He was played by actor Will Lee until his death in 1982.

[@tidycat4]

I know. It was the first game that I ever played in an arcade. It was the biggest phenomenom ever for games. Cereal, stickers, posters, news segments, a cartoon. They used to have eight machines in a row at many arcades. When Ms. Pac-Man came out a few years later it was a huge success as well. Imagine twenty or thirty people crowding around one machine just to catch a glimpse.

[@NJGuy1973]

If any video game and a certain year are linked, it's Pac-Man and 1982.

[@xtlm]

"They are suppost to be the Ghosts" hahahah

[@swingindoorspro]

"Pacman? who's he?" for some reason that just cracks me up

[@Electrodefender]

That was my first own video game. We played it all the time and once the four ghosts got stuck in the tunnel :)

[@Dulcimerist]

I totally remember this commercial! I never realized it was Mr. Hooper. Cool!

[@QuentinDude]

i remember havin this and that game too along with donkey kong, pole position and others...i remember going to a yard sale one day as a kid and some lady was sellin old 2600 games for a dollar each!!!! i bought like 25 of them it was unbelievable....got alot of classics...dont ever remember what happened to them tho...too long ago

[@TESTMACARONI]

Will Lee!!!

[@joey75220]

AW, Mr. I was a kid. Thanks for posting this!!

[@captxena31]

omg Atrari 2600 man thoose were the days growing up in the 80's was awsome they had the best cartoons and children shows man I miss the 80's

[@TheVegaIsAwesome]

I still have this cart and a working 2600.

[@godstomper]

RIP Mr Hooper.

[@AndrewHager02]

In reply to the description, "it's Hooper! Hooper!". XD

[@georgef551]

"....Have you played Arari Today?" Memories...

[@ActionAdventureTVShows]

LOL good old Mr. Hooper

[@RickyIcecubes]

There's a reason why they didn't show the gameplay up close

[@MrTree1779]

"Those are *supposed* to be the ghosts..." Truth in advertising. Damn, this game sucked. So glad we have emulators to preserve the real arcade classics.

[@Beltzer0072]

So what about this one? Would this have helped Atari? kzbin.info/www/bejne/nH3ViqCEeKaIeM0

[@MrTree1779]

"That uh...power adapter is in upside-down and...oh, nevermind." Stupid filmmakers had no idea how to advertise a game system back then. Treating it like a blender instead of a console.

[@MaximRecoil]

+MrTree1779 The prongs on an Atari 2600 AC adapter are not polarized; i.e., there is no "upside down", not in any meaningful sense of the term anyway.

[@MrTree1779]

MaximRecoil Totally. But wouldn't it fall out due to being top heavy *and* not being polarized, which would let it grip (kinda) from the inside?

[@MaximRecoil]

MrTree1779 The original Atari 2600 AC adapters are a bit unusual actually, in that the prongs are located on the brick closest to the end that the cord exits ( see here - www.konsolenkost.de/images/produkte/i41/Atari-2600-Original-Atari-AC-Adapter-Netzteil-9V-500mA-b.jpg ), which is the opposite of most AC adapters. That means that the position normally perceived as "right side up" (cord exiting toward the floor when you plug it into the wall outlet) would be "top heavy" for an original Atari 2600 AC adapter. To avoid the "top heavy" situation, you plug it into the wall with the cord exiting toward the ceiling, like was done in this commercial.

[@MrTree1779]

MaximRecoil Oh! Didn't know that. Thanks for the info!

[@chism26]

Poor Mr Hooper RIP

[@Musicradio77Network]

I remember this commercial since I was a little kid. "Pac-Man" for Atari VCS was a good game, but it was a terrible port of an arcade game. I remember that scene in "Cannonball Run 2" the one with Jackie Chan in his earlier film that he played the 2600 version of "Pac-Man" and after that, he turns off the game and says "Oh, were sorry, you're an average player, please try again later." Best moments in that film.

[@dokichokei]

I love how they advertise that you have to buy it seperately, rather than just noting it at the end

[@sandal_thong8631]

I understand it sold 2 million Atari 2600 consoles in Spring 1982. Atari sold another 3 million by the end of 1982. However, they would only sell 1 million 5200s, so they sabotaged the rollout of their next system.

[@macgyver6999]

@@sandal_thong8631 shoulda had pacman 5200 only should buried 2600 in late 82

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@macgyver6999 I thought that too, but end of 1981, before Pac-Man came out, so it would sell a better system (or computer) I suspect because they got Space Invaders and it put them on top, it made them think they didn't have to upgrade in 1981 or 1982 to compete with Mattel Intellivision. Also, owners of the Atari 800 said their computer could play the same bit-level games that the 5200 could, so the latter was superfluous. If they released it only on the computer that would have been best.

[@macgyver6999]

@@sandal_thong8631 🤔

[@grapebuy789]

I didn't grow up with Atari. But why do I remember seeing this commercial? I wasn't alive at the time.

[@TheEliaz78]

maybe the matrix is broken...

[@MoonPies4Lyfe]

+grapebuy789 same with me

[@ChicagoMel23]

I was alive but very young

[@somewherenbtween4860]

I remember this commercial and i actually enjoyed this version of Pac-man. I loved ANYTHING Pac Man tho!! I didn't play the arcade version as much but I did have the table top version of Pac-man which I also enjoyed altho it was slower and the sound was annoying like an alarm. I had Pac Man records and story books, action figures, board games, cereal, wall ornaments, etc....I'm even working on crocheting a Pac Man Graphgan!! :)

[@UltimatePerfection]

Because they've fixed it for ad, saved on one cartridge, then discarded it afterwards.

[@Lumotaku]

Pc has become universally adopted as meaning an ibm or clone. The commodore 64 was the greatest home computer to come out of the 80s and mostly that was because of its games.

[@JasonMC72]

Wow! Mr. Hooper(Will Lee) was also on a Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 commercial. According to my recollection, he he also on a cranberry juice commercial during the mid 1970s.

[@strumpeteer]

Many of you thought this version of Pacman seemed like the worst but it sold 7 million copies which made it the best selling game for the 2600 console.

[@AllGamingStarred]

you forget, it doesn't account for the 2.5 billion returns after the allure wore off

[@paulspydar]

I like pacman on the 2600...

[@Random_VHS_TV]

Wow, this is a rare commercial indeed. Games have come a long way from this, to the nintendo wii 30 years later lol

[@technoshock11]

Lol, I wasn't even born when that commercial was made. I like the other one (about this game) better, but this one was much more honest: even though the ghosts didn't seem to flicker on that commercial, at least they used the real in-game sounds and not the arcade ones like on the other ;-)

[@FlyingDuckMan360]

I Have Actually Played 2600 Pac-Man and Was about as Good as Mr. Hooper. May Mr. Hooper Have a Good Time Up in Heaven.

[@ChicagoMel23]

Heaven is dependent on salvation and acceptance of Jesus. Hopefully it was true of him

[@asseertedwolf]

im 20 now i never got the chance to buy a atari 2600 when they first came out but my father did and that was the first gaming system i playd on still got it and it works perfect xbox360 5 have broken

[@LeeOsburn]

That 'supposed to be the ghosts' line killed me. LOL

[@astrodome1994]

If you’re going to introduce Pac-Man to someone who’s never heard of it (which by this point in history is very unlikely), DO NOT TOUCH the Atari 2600 version! The implications send shivers down my spine! 😖

[@claudehauper7629]

astrodomekid, they have new versions for it now that’ll play on the 2600 that are amazing.

[@glennorange]

Hey at one time this version of Pac-Man was top of the line, amazing graphics!

[@TheMediaHoarder]

No, even when it was brand new, it was considered shit. Compare it to the real arcade game, then add the limitations of the Atari system and the fact that it was rushed to market. The Ms. Pac-Man game for the 2600 was what this should have been.

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

"No, even when it was brand new, it was considered shit" Even though most people I've talked to found it impressive that such a game was possible on such limited hardware. Face it, you were expecting too much out of aging hardware.

[@mikecarter8880]

I remember during an episode of MASH at the time they showed a preview for Pac Man for the Atari2600, they used the arcade version in the clip, I was soooo excited! I remember it took forever to come out, when it did it was this crap. I only saw that commercial once.

[@doubleot]

I like the comment "those are supposed to be the ghosts". "Supposed" to be. I guess they realized it didn't look anything like arcade PacMan. I had it though, and thought it was the best thing ever.

[@cruisetheautisticboy994]

R.I.P Mr. Hooper from Sesame Street

[@sa3270]

I like how the game starts the instant they turn it on.

[@yamigekusu]

this version of Pac-Man is the only game to ever give me nightmares for years to come. Hell, I still get nightmares today whenever I think of this travesty -_-

[@franklinpriante]

love pacman, atari forever

[@Snotnarok]

I had no idea, I've only seen the older consoles recently though youtube, my first system was Genssis.

[@HappyHumanist369]

@TeamRocketReviews Yes! One of the earliest video games I can remember that was 2 players. It set the standard for multiplayer games to come.

[@jeopardy60611]

Wow! I had no idea that Mr. Hooper did anything outside of Sesame Street. Back in the day, good graphics & sound were too expensive to put in a home console, so that's why you get a Pac-man game with flickering ghosts, (displaying one ghost at a time) and cheesy beeping sounds for the "chomping." Since an arcade game cost at least $2000 new, it could be made with more memory (64K instead of only 4K), hi-res graphics with more pixels so everything doesn't look blocky, and better sound.

[@brautigan1]

My Grampa, at the age of 67, was one of the top original Rogue Spear players, period. No joke, he was in like the top clan, and absolutely kicked ass. Then again, he was really youthful for his age. There was nothing cute about it, either. He was some serious wtfpwn. Dave Randal was his name, he laid down the smack in any FPS and he was all "get that motherfucker" on the teamspeak. Miss ya, Gramps.

[@Club-Dreamiverse]

I know what's like having lost relatives before. I lost my father and grandparents.

[@TheDoopliss2]

wow a grand father playing video games never thought id see that

[@sxmfs74]

I loved adjusting the tint and hue on my TV until the screen was bright pink and green. My brother played for hours and I once got put on restriction for unplugging his game when I was 8 or so because I wanted to play LOL. I still love gaming now adays its Viva Pinata-same concepts if you think about it.

[@bassistguy]

Big Bird:: Hello Mr. Looper! Mr. Hooper:: Hooper! Hooper!

[@Lynxan]

I like that they had to mention that you had to buy the game seperatly as they intodused the game.

[@Roflmafao]

it actually wasnt a horrible game

[@BoxcarWillie42]

I'm going to go crank up ol' Atari Pacman right now to remind me..... How AWESOME it was!!!!! That's right... I have no life!!

[@zymaymyn]

yea, for a quarter of a century!!!!!

[@2guysthatdostuff]

"those are supposed to be ghosts!" What he means is that the sprites are crap.

[@ufo5440]

I'm waiting for the health study coming out saying that playing video games increases longevity.. I just know it does

[@remusonutiu]

OMFG! I cant wait till came out! When it cames out? -30 years

[@DTM-Books]

Don't laugh, my parent's asked me the same thing. Heh heh heh.

[@veg411]

I chuckled.

[@MarsHottentot]

@MrVideoGameMAN2012 The ad was directed toward old farts like Mr. Hooper here, who had NO CLUE about video games, computers, calculators or anything like that. "Jenni wants a Pacmin - what's a Pacmin? I've got to buy what for the Pacmin to work? My father was at Gettysburg fighting for THIS? Oi vey..."

[@TommyPicklesFan]

RIP Will Lee AKA Mr Hooper, 1908-1982.

[@kelamo7067]

I know...

[@brianschwartz1372]

TommyPickles Fan1992 Actually he died in 1983.

[@TommyPicklesFan]

Oh Sorry about that, I didn't know that.

TommyPickles Fan1992 Will Lee Was 74 Years Old

[@jack1947711]

Damn, i actually feel like i went back in time.

[@classicssmfan]

This is the first and only time I've seen Will Lee/Mr. Hooper outside of Sesame Street.

[@docdoom187]

this guy was an actor on Sesame Street. Big Bird would call him Mr. Looper by accident sometimes. but, hey, that's old stuff. you kids never got to see anything like that. :-)

[@KingLashiec]

Will Lee's last role outside Sesame Street before he died. Such a sad final role to have played outside of Mr Hooper... :(

[@johnp4008]

+Temmie Zeppelyn It wasn't sad if it made kids at the time happy. Like it did me.

[@tvtimetravel]

He also did a commercial for Campbell's Soup just before his death. It used to on here. Don't know whether the Campbell's or Pac-Man ad was the last one he did.

[@captxena31]

wow thoose were the days

[@thewiirocks]

Oh, and you had better be coming to the Midwest Gaming Classic show on the 9th and 10th. There's nothing quite like seeing mueseum pieces like a Graduate keyboard prototype with your own eyes. Not to mention meeting some real Video Game historians and industry programmers face to face.

[@XANA8446]

typo in the discryption box

[@stickguyanimatior818]

That kid *WILL* be a *GRANDPA SOON*

[@sa3270]

I think you mean grandma.

[@CreesNostalgiaHut]

RIP MR. HOOPER.

[@FlyingDuckMan360]

That's Right. It Sold Over Seven Million Copies, Making it a Cult Classic. If I Were to Order an Atari 2600 From Ebay, Pac-Man Would Most Likely Be Included.

[@TheDiabloKnight]

i like how she says "those are SUPPOSED to be the ghosts!!!" lol

[@Lemonidas75]

The Grandpa must be long gone by now :)

[@paulspydar]

oh my!!! why would some one give a thumbs down ? just because I said I like "Pac Man" on the 2600! if you dont like it ? and do not agree with me likeing the game ? then fine,,,but C`mon a thumbs down! thats meant for people who leave abusive & racist comments etc,,is`nt it?

[@DeadRaymanWalking]

R.I.P. Will "Mr. Hooper" Lee.

[@HappyHumanist369]

The best game for the Atari 2600 was where two players play Tank. I think that was the name of it. If you moved around to the rear of another tank when it was moving the tanks would spin all over the screen. Old school glitching.

[@chism26]

that tank game had two our three names actuley

[@donkique956]

OMG! Where can I buy this system and game? I'm kind of getting bored playing my Coleco Telstar system. I think it's time for an upgrade.

[@Beltzer0072]

I love Mr. Hooper's expression at about 0:8, hes like, "oh shit, its that fucking game!!!" LMAO!!!!!!

[@KartKing4ever]

you have to buy it sepprately...your parents have too hook it up AHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

[@mtganfilm]

AGHHHH! SO OLD! XD Atari FTW

[@gchance]

Interesting advertising tactic they'd never use today: "Pac Man is a videogame cartridge you have to buy separately." Now you'd NEVER tell someone they "have to" buy it. That's negative speech anyway, they'd use a positive approach and only mention it as a disclaimer at the end, "Cartridge sold separately from Atari 2600 console." Funny too, later Pac-Man became a pack-in for the console. More trivia: there were more Pac-Mans sold than 2600's because of 3rd party consoles.

[@randomdevices]

Out of those games, the order is Atari 2600 (1970's-80's) Intellivision Atari 5200 Nintendo (NES)(Mid 80's) Sega Genesis (90's)

[@me000]

The title says Mr. Hooper. The Description says Mr. Looper.

[@tpbarlow5858]

Good game.

[@thewiirocks]

I'm glad I was able to help. :) Will we see you at the MGC?

[@SuperTrainStationH]

I was about to make fun of the SUPPOSED to be comment myself. :P

[@OldSchoolRasslin]

The BBC micro version of Pac Man was the best one.

[@ground2airnerd]

What's with the " You must buy seperately" thing on all of the Atari commercials?

[@DeadRaymanWalking]

@binturong1000 Yep, that's Mr. Hooper. His real name was Will Lee.

[@billsandiego3385]

This game isn't that bad! Keep in mind this was the first pac man port ever. Being able to play pac man at home instead of an arcade was revolutionary at the time.

[@productions4452]

It was very bad... The reason why it was so bad is because Atari gave to the developer very little time to make the game and so he didn't make It very good. Pacmans developers said that this isn't how pacman was supposed to look like.

[@markpapenfuss1111]

WAYLOR PRODUCTIONS, exactly. This was essentially a beta version, rushed out to get into the Christmas marketplace. At the same time, to Bill SanDiego’s point, the gameplay is not awful. If it had better sound and nonflickery ghosts, that would have gone a long way.

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

The game came out in early 1982. It wasn't rushed for the Christmas market. It was made in six months by one programmer.

[@billsandiego3385]

@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 exactly! Atari games took more than twice as long to make on average at the time

[@speedgriffon2504]

@@productions4452 And there were numerous Pac-Man clones (Mouse Trap, Lock'n'Chase, etc.) with better graphics and gameplay.

[@wtfhellas]

damn its mr hooper!

[@Whtxombi]

I played thsi thing at my friends house. God, after five minutes I developed the worst headache...